Megachurch Pastor Frederick D. Haynes III wins Jasmine Crockett's House seat

Dallas megachurch pastor and civil rights advocate Frederick Douglass Haynes III is projected to win the race for Texas' 30th Congressional District, keeping the district under Democratic control.

Haynes, the senior pastor of the progressive Friendship-West Baptist Church, is the projected winner in the race against Republican Everett Jackson, according to an unofficial tally with more than 95% of the ballots counted. Haynes has secured 82.64% of the vote to Jackson's 17.36%. 

The pastor will succeed U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, after she gave up her seat to run for U.S. Senate. Crockett, a member of Haynes' church, lost the Democratic primary to state Rep. James Talarico. Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, is slated to become the youngest member of the Senate after defeating Republican Ken Paxton. 

The races for the 30th and 33rd congressional districts were held under boundaries redrawn by Texas lawmakers in 2025. The redrawn 30th Congressional District covers mostly southern Dallas County and a small portion of Tarrant County.

A video reviewed by The Dallas Express showed Haynes telling his congregation on Oct. 25 that they could vote at his church. The church’s banquet hall foyer was listed as a voting location on Dallas County’s early voting list.

Haynes told congregants they could vote “right after church,” and he also invited candidates to join him at the front of the sanctuary.

The Dallas County Republican Party objected to the church’s use as a polling location because its pastor is a candidate. On Oct. 11, Haynes’ Republican opponent protested outside the church over the potential conflict of interest.

During his campaign, Haynes received an endorsement from CAIR Action, the political arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The pastor has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and Israel, including in a sermon on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel.

A 2009 lawsuit filed against Haynes accused the pastor of sending $2,000 to a woman who sent him a topless photo, The Washington Free Beacon reported last month.

Haynes’ former executive assistant, Elizabeth Payne, alleged that the pastor told her to wire money to a female “mentee” named Lisa Harrod for travel expenses.

In a December 2009 deposition for a racial discrimination lawsuit she filed against the church, Payne said she was opening church mail when she found a card addressed to Haynes that contained a topless photo of Harrod.

Payne also said she “witnessed communication of an inappropriate sexual relationship” in emails between Haynes and other women, though she acknowledged she never witnessed any inappropriate activity.

“My supervisor, who was Dr. Haynes, was having these sexual affairs,” Payne said in her deposition.

“When Dr. Haynes hands me over $2,000 in cash and asks me to take it down to Western Union and wire it to an individual for travel arrangements […], and this is the same person who was sending the card, I would think it was an affair,” she continued.

Payne alleged in the lawsuit that she was fired in August 2008 after Haynes learned she was having an affair with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Haynes had called Wright, a United Church of Christ pastor, an “adopted father.”

Haynes denied firing Payne over her relationship with Wright and said she was dismissed for poor work performance. The case was settled in September 2010, and the terms were not disclosed.